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- Food blogger and TV personality Ree Drummond spoke with Insider about her kitchen must-haves.
- One item "The Pioneer Woman" relies on for more than just baking is her KitchenAid stand mixer.
- I put her hacks for mashing potatoes and shredding chicken to the test and got delicious results.
KitchenAid 6-Quart Professional 600 Series Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer Check price at Amazon Check price at KitchenAid Check price at Bed Bath and Beyond Ree Drummond, "The Pioneer Woman," is known for the simple, budget-friendly yet delicious meals featured on her Food Network show and blog. Recently, while promoting her new ready-to-wear fashion line, Drummond spoke with Insider about what products she relies on to feed her large family.
The exclusive interview revealed that she turns to her stand mixer for much more than just baking.
I decided to put her stand mixer hacks to the test. Here are some unique ways The Pioneer Woman uses her stand mixer and how well they worked when I tried them out.
First of all, Drummond uses a KitchenAid stand mixer
The Pioneer Woman uses the KitchenAid Professional 600 Series Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer in her kitchen. Thanks to their power and durability, KitchenAid has set the standard in stand mixers. Most of us on the Insider Reviews Home & Kitchen team use KitchenAid mixers in our home kitchens.
For 18 years, I've used a similar KitchenAid model to what Drummond uses. My 7-Quart Pro Line mixer is featured in the photos throughout this article. It has a slightly larger bowl than the Professional 600's 6-quart capacity, but both have powerful motors that can handle kneading bread and other heavy-duty tasks.
For more, check out our guide to the best KitchenAid stand mixers.
A surprising way Drummond uses her stand mixer: mashing potatoes
"I love a stand mixer for making mashed potatoes because you can cook the potatoes, and then just quickly drain them and put them in the mixer," said Drummond.
To test this, I followed the "Delicious, Creamy Mashed Potatoes" recipe on The Pioneer Woman blog, but I took two liberties. First, I didn't peel the potatoes because I like to save time and add nutrients. Secondly, the recipe calls for hand-mashing the potatoes. Instead, I relied on Drummond's stand mixer instructions:
"I just turn it on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment, and it really takes care of the mashing for me," she said. "So, I can let that go while I'm getting other things ready, and then just add the cream and butter and everything else there."
I found it worked great. In under a minute, the potatoes had a paste-like texture. I added the butter, half-and-half, cream cheese, and seasoning with the mixer running. The ingredients mixed together evenly, aside from a stray bit of cream cheese, taken care of by stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides. Clean-up was also a snap, making this a viable option for my future potato mashing, especially during the holidays when I'm scrambling to prepare several dishes at once.
Drummond uses a stand mixer hack to make quick work of shredding chicken
"The other great thing about a stand mixer is you can shred chicken with it," said Drummond. "If you need to have a big batch of shredded chicken for enchiladas or even chicken salad, if you're making something like that, using the stand mixer, first of all, it saves your arm muscles, then second of all, it saves time, because you can get other things ready while it's shredding. So I love kind of dual purpose things where I can get something going and go take care of something else."
To test this, I followed The Pioneer Woman's "Pressure Cooker Shredded Chicken and 3 Easy Meals" recipe using the Instant Pot Duo Crisp. Once the chicken was done cooking, I followed Drummond's instructions: "Put it in the stand mixer with the paddle attachment and turn it on, and it shreds it. And it's just magical," she said.
I put the chicken and all of the accumulated juices in the mixer and ran it on its lowest setting. In 30 seconds, it had a uniform consistency. I didn't find any large chunks. I wish I had this hack when hand-shredding 22 batches of pulled pork while testing for our Instant Pots guide. This trick would also work for shredding beef.
The bottom line
Overall, I found these stand mixer tips to be incredibly simple and helpful. I generally hate dirtying unnecessary appliances when preparing a meal, but in this instance, the savings in time and effort were worth it, especially since clean-up was a breeze. Thanks to The Pioneer Woman, my KitchenAid will see more action, even when I'm not baking.
You can learn more kitchen hacks from the Food Network star in her cookbook:
"The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The New Frontier" by Ree Drummond Check price at Amazon Check price at Barnes & Noble Check price at Target 
James Brains Senior Reporter, Business Insider Reviews James is a Senior Reporter for Business Insider Reviews, specializing in sleep, HVAC, and kitchen appliances. He has tested more than 90 mattresses from startups like Casper and legacy brands like Tempur-Pedic, using his background in experimental psychology to develop objective tests and evaluate comfort, support, motion transfer, and more. He authors our guide to the best mattresses. In addition to being Business Insider Reviews' mattress expert, James has extensively covered air fryers, bidets, air conditioners, air purifiers, and anything you put on your mattress, including weighted blankets and pillows.He's a multifaceted writer who has covered everything from health and fitness to consumer technology. His mission is to help people get the most value for their money by guiding them in making informed buying decisions.James lives in Lansing, Michigan, with his wife, two kids, and a kitty. When James isn't testing products and writing for Business Insider, he runs a popular local Facebook group, Lansing Foodies; hosts a local news segment called Foodie Friday; and puts on the Olive Burger Festival.Contact info: jbrains@businessinsider.comLearn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here.Learn more about how we test kitchen products. Read more Read lessncG1vNJzZmivp6x7o8HSoqWeq6Oeu7S1w56pZ5ufonyowcidnKxnm57BpLTEp2apoZ%2Bjsqa%2BjLCmppmeYr%2BmsYydqa6lnaS7pXnSrZinnF2itrmx0Wafmpub